Securing Windows 9X, SE, ME Desktops Resource Guide
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If possible, upgrade your system to Windows XP. If this is not possible, follow these steps to improve the security of the system:
Visit the Microsoft Update site and install the latest critical updates. Some updates must be installed alone and will require a reboot. Visit Microsoft Update as many times as necessary to install all critical updates.
Familiarize yourself with these Best Practices in Enterprise Security. Consumers and businesses with non-managed systems can use automated tools to keep systems up-to-date. For more info see: https://www.microsoft.com/security/ .
Update your anti-virus tools and signature files from viruses. Check out the Virus Alerts regularly.
Ongoing Security Maintenance
Without ongoing maintenance your system can become vulnerable to new forms of attacks. Further, the security of your system will degrade over time due to human error of administrators managing the system. Follow these recommended steps on a regular basis:
Use the Baseline Security Analyzer regularly to scan and evaluate the security of your system.
Subscribe to the Microsoft Security Notification Service. This is a free e-mail notification service that Microsoft uses to send information to subscribers about the security of Microsoft products.
Use the Microsoft Update Web site to check for the latest Recommended and Critical updates.
As new security fixes become available, it is important to apply these new fixes. Microsoft has created the Qchain tool to chain hotfixes together in order for only one reboot to be required when installing several fixes.